Warangal: The spread of Coronavirus has reached dangerous proportions in erstwhile Warangal district following the conduct of Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) election by the state government while ignoring public health. The State Election Commission’s directions to take all safety measures to avoid the spread of Covid-19 were ignored. Campaigning was carried out in huge groups with zero regard to physical distancing.
The notification for the election was released on April 16 and the exercise continued till May 3 when results were declared. For 10 days, hundreds of activists conducted electioneering in 66 divisions in Greater Warangal.
Eight newly elected corporators including GWMC commissioner Pamela Satpathy tested positive for the virus after the elections. Several municipal corporation officials, staff, a large number of party activists and even their family members are now testing positive for the virus.
According to official figures, the maximum number of Coronavirus positive cases in a single day in March did not exceed 15. No deaths were reported. On March 1, 61 RT-PCR and 2,398 rapid antigen tests (RAT) were conducted and only eight positive cases were reported.
During March, an average of 10 positive cases were reported after tests were conducted at a rate of 2,000 per day.
However, in April, the number of positive cases increased from tens to hundreds as electioneering for GWMC elections was on. On April 26, 3,893 tests were conducted and 358 tested positive. On the next day, 4,700 people were tested and 633 cases were reported. Six people died.
On May 1, 2,430 tests were conducted and 208 positive cases were registered with eight reported dead. Of the 1,654 tests performed on May 7, 307 were positive and 15 people were dead. On May 8, 2,456 tests were conducted and 345 were found to be positive and 12 were dead. Of the 3,004 people tested on May 9, 378 tested positive and 14 died, indicating clearly that electioneering led to Covid-19 exploding.
Authorities took stringent measures to control the first wave of the Coronavirus. But, one year later, the government and the people are showing a reckless attitude. No restrictions were imposed on areas where people were likely to congregate allowing people to roam freely. As a result, the spread of the virus is now out of control.
